I don’t have much to do with writer’s block. I believe it’s a thing, it’s just not how I frame writing for myself.

Reader’s block, however?

That’s a whole other kettle of fish.

If you’ve ever stared blankly at your bookshelves (or ereader) and whined “I have nothing to read!” you know what I’m talking about. Whether you own 5 books, 5,000, or live above a library, there comes a moment where you’ve read everything there is to read and no book in the world is exactly what you want.

Luckily, Archive of Our Own (AO3) has exactly what you, or I anyway, need.

From 99 words to hundreds of thousands on any subject you can imagine (and probably even more that you can’t).

When I’m in a reading slump I go to AO3, click the pairings I’ve got bookmarked, and download whatever’s new since the last time I did it and bam! Fifty new things to read, none of which I’ve ever read before. Some of them will be retreads of familiar territory and some will be startlinglingly new. If I hate one I can delete it without guilt. If I love it I can read it again later.

Sometimes the world is too stressful to commit to an entire brand new book and my tolerance for things I don’t like is too low. Fan fic is the perfect fit, especially with the amazing tagging system on AO3. You know exactly what you’re getting, with just enough room left for a comfortable surprise.